5 Books by American Writers Everyone Should Know

5 Books by American Writers Everyone Should Know

There are books that are always on everyone's lips. For example, "The Great Gatsby" or "The Master and Margarita". There are books recognized as elitist, such as "In Search of Lost Time" or "Ulysses". And there are books without which it is difficult to imagine the literature of a particular country. We will talk about such people. This selection contains 5 books that have become classics of American literature.

"Moby Dick, or the White Whale" (1851)

The main book by Herman Melville, not recognized by contemporaries, but highly appreciated in the XX century. In terms of scale, this novel can only be compared with its mysterious hero - a white whale nicknamed Moby Dick.

Ahab, the captain of the whaling ship Pequod, lost his leg while hunting. He became a cripple through the fault of Moby Dick, a ferocious giant, the terror of all whalers, as if avenging his kin. Ahab considers the White Whale to be the embodiment of world evil and his personal enemy. He equips the Pequod for a long voyage with one goal - to find and kill Moby Dick.

The White Whale, aka Moby Dick, aka Leviathan, is a mystery. Who is this? God or the devil? An intelligent force of nature or a "dumb creature"? The fruit of Ahab's inflamed imagination or a real killer whale?

Having taken on board the sailor Ishmael (the story of the voyage is told on his behalf), the Pequod goes into the ocean for a dangerous whale hunt...

"Moby Dick" is a whole symphony of genres. This is an encyclopedia of whaling, a novel about a sea adventure, a tragedy in the spirit of Shakespeare, an Old Testament allegory and a mythopoetic parable about the unequal struggle of man with nature.

Interesting fact. Starbucks coffee chain Starbucks is named after Starbeck, Ahab's mate in the novel.

"Martin Eden" (1909)

The famous novel by Jack London, the author of "White Fang" and adventure stories. It is both similar and different from the rest of the writer's works.

Martin Eden is a strong and strong-willed man who follows his dreams. An uncouth sailor, he falls in love with a girl from high society and discovers his talent as a writer. He is engaged in self-education. He gets up at 5 am and first of all immerses his head in a basin of cold water. He lives from hand to mouth, buys books and works part-time in the laundry. He sends his works to magazines, fails...

The hero does not give up. He is convinced that the day will come when he will succeed and receive universal recognition. But will he be able to maintain kindness and spontaneity? Will he remain true to himself?

Interesting fact. Vladimir Mayakovsky was a fan of this novel. Based on "Martin Eden", he wrote a screenplay "Not Born for Money". The main idea was preserved, but Mayakovsky moved the action to revolutionary Russia and changed the ending. The main character was named Ivan Nov. From a sailor, he turned into a factory worker, dreaming of becoming a famous poet-futurist.

In 1918, director Nikandr Turkin shot a film of the same name based on Mayakovsky's script. The poet played the main role in it. Unfortunately, the film has not been preserved. Only photo tests and posters remained.

"The Sound and the Fury" (1929)

William Faulkner wrote several good books, but gained world fame as the author of the novel "The Sound and the Fury". However, this happened only 20 years after the publication of the book, when Faulkner was awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature (1949).

"The Sound and the Fury" is the story of one family. Like "The Brothers Karamazov". But it cannot be called an ordinary family romance: Faulkner uses the technique of "stream of consciousness" and confuses the plot. It shows the action from the point of view of different characters in different years. Each of the four parts of the novel is written in its own style. Each part "jumps" in time through the other. All this makes "The Sound and the Fury" difficult to perceive: to figure out what's what, you need to read it with a pencil.

In the center of the story is the degenerate Compson family, living in one of the southern states. A despotic mother, a drinking father, a frivolous daughter Caddy and three sons: Benji, Quentin and Jason.

Benji suffers from a mental disorder. He is dumb and immersed in himself. The first part of the novel, the most difficult to read, was written on his behalf. It conveys a series of perceptions and incoherent thoughts.

Quentin is a refined intellectual, idealist, "the hope of the family" and a student at Harvard. On his behalf - the second part. It is easier to read: the "stream of consciousness" is poetic and logical up to a certain point.

Jason is a cynic and a materialist. From him we learn about the events in the third part. His "stream of consciousness" is simple and crude, like a live speech in the market. He is embittered at his relatives and does not mince words.

Three brothers, like three views on life. Their sister Caddy, who knew adult love early and left the family, does not have her own "voice". But she is present in every part of the book, remaining its most mysterious character. Caddy's fate and the brothers' attitude towards her is the main nerve of The Sound and the Fury.

We advise you to read the novel translated by Hosea Soroka - it is clearer and more comfortable.

Interesting fact. Faulkner lived poorly. He could hardly support his family on literary earnings. "The Sound and the Fury" sold a meager circulation in the United States: only 3000 copies were sold in 16 years. The American reader simply did not understand him. The novel was truly appreciated in Europe, especially in France. Jean-Paul Sartre wrote an essay about him, "Time in Faulkner's The Sound and the Fury" (1939).

"Of Mice and Men" (1937)

John Steinbeck's favorite characters: bankrupt farmers, fishermen, agricultural workers. Deep people, familiar with the hardships of working life.

Two characters in the story "Of Mice and Men" are simple, rude people. Their names are George and Lenny. They are vagrants wandering around California in search of ranch work. George is squat and cunning. Lenny is a healthy kid with remarkable strength, but he is mentally retarded. George takes care of Lenny. He often snaps at him with abuse, but does not throw him. He understands that without him, the helpless giant will disappear.

The poor are driven by the "American dream": to buy a small farm with a green garden. "And rabbits," Lenny adds. He loves everything soft and fluffy. But is this dream destined to come true?..

Interesting fact. There are two film adaptations of the story: 1939 and 1992. The latter was directed and filmed by actor Gary Sinise, who became famous as Lieutenant Dan in the film Forrest Gump.

"Slaughterhouse No 5, or the Children's Crusade" (1969)

Kurt Vonnegut is a master of satirical prose with elements of fantasy. Until the 1960s, he was known as the author of second-rate science fiction fiction. Vonnegut himself ridiculed this role in the image of the eccentric writer Kilgore Trout, who appears in most of his works.

In the novel "Slaughterhouse No 5" there is a place for both fantasy (the main character moves to the planet Trafalmador, where creatures with eyes on their palms live) and caustic satire. But it is devoted to a more than serious topic - military. Or rather, anti-war.

The culmination of the novel is the bombing of Dresden by Anglo-American aircraft in February 1945. Its result: 25 thousand dead. The old German city, which had no direct relation to the front, was destroyed to the ground. Vonnegut, a U.S. Army private, ironically witnessed the bombing from the German side. At that moment he was in captivity, in a Dresden prisoner-of-war camp. When the air raid began, the guards took the Americans to the basement of Slaughterhouse No 5 (hence the title of the novel). And when they came to the surface... That's the way it is.

Vonnegut presents the war as a tragicomedy of the absurd, fixing both the terrible and the ridiculous in its events. Behind the anti-war satire hides the author's pain for each death. This is laughter through tears. "Buffoonery," Vonnegut wrote, "is my reaction to troubles that I cannot help."

Interesting fact. When a book reports something irreparable, most often death, the author uses the expression "such things". “so it goes”). In the Russian translation it occurs 102 times, in the original text – 106.

That's all. You may ask: where are Hemingway, Salinger and Daniel Keyes?! About them - in another selection. Subscribe to the channel, like and write in the comments which of the American authors you like. At the bottom is a small survey.